Stab in the Dark Film Screening Featuring Dane Reynolds

What is the best surfboard in the world?

And, an even more difficult question: How do you determine such a thing?

Stab and Vans have always enjoyed making definitive statements in a sport and industry fraught with variables and subjectivity (which is what makes surfing great). So, discovering the world’s best surfboard felt like an important challenge.

This is the premise of Stab In The Dark.

To remove subjectivity and brand association from this litmus test, we commissioned 13 of the world’s best shapers to create completely cleanskin surfboards.

The boards had to be 6’0”, shaped for a progressive modern surfer. But, we didn’t tell the shapers – or anyone else – who that surfer would be.

Fast forward a few months and Dane Reynolds landed at Johannesburg International with a coffin of 13 anonymous surfboards, which he would spend the next 10 days testing, flexing, and rating. In the end, it came down to one.

A flawed concept? Sure. But, it’s as close to objectivity as any board test in the world will ever come.